Saturday, September 15, 2024

Ganeshotsav, Marathi Vishwa’s inaugural event for the 2024-25 year, was a remarkable celebration of Ganapati Bappa. The sold-out event was attended by close to 800 people. The day started with Ganapati Puja. The Ganesh murti, adorned with lovely hibiscus, roses, and many other colorful and fragrant flowers, was placed within the beautifully decorated aaras. The puja was performed by guruji Smt. Sulabha Khare; and the puja couple for this year was Mr. Upendra and Mrs. Ashwini Belshe. This was followed by Atharvashirsha recitation led by Smt. Khare and Mr. Mandar Kelkar with the participation of attendees. The puja concluded with Aarti, Darshan, and Prasad.

Throughout the day, people enjoyed clicking photos at the multiple photo booths. With nine vendor stalls, the attendees also got a chance to shop for sarees, outfits, jewelry, and cultural gifts and learn about financial/community services offerings. Everyone enjoyed the sumptuous meal provided by Mejwaani restaurant that included Amrakhand, Kothimbeer Vadi, and many more delicious items.

The afternoon program started with the Oath Ceremony led by Vihar Deshpande, as MV Trustee, for all MV committees. The retiring members of the Board of Directors, Trustees, and Investment Committee were felicitated with plaques and given a fond farewell.

The musical program ‘Babuji Ani Mi’ started on time as planned. Emcee Swapnali Kelkar introduced the artists; and Shree Shridhar Phadke, and his team commenced the program. The powerful renditions of Babuji’s famous songs like ‘Toch Chandrama Nabhat’, ‘Dhundi Kalyana’ and many others were mesmerizing. People started responding with ‘Once More’ right from the beginning. Shridharji also presented songs composed by him. The program became more interesting as he narrated special memories of the makings of many of the songs. Renowned singer Mrs. Deepika Jog-Datar added to the magic by singing solo as well as some duets with Shridharji. The Tabla and Keyboard artists Shree Tushar Agre, and Shree Omkar Patankar respectively did an admirable job. Emcee Swapnali was outstanding for keeping the flow of the program going with her witty commentary and knowledge about the various songs.

Mr. Praful Mestri provided flawless audio support for the program. Special Thanks to Mr. Suryaksha Deshpande for making Tabla available for the concert, as well as Guru Archana Joglekar and Mrs. Vaishali Patankar for scale changing harmoniums. We would also like to thank our talented local chorus singers Bhakti Purandare-Joshi, Neeti Gupte, and Arnav Pofale. The musical program ended on time and the artists were felicitated with plaques and a huge round of applause.

Bappa’s Uttar-puja and aarti were followed by an energetic procession with dhol-tasha by Team Jallosh. The crowd participated with great enthusiasm, dancing and phugdya. The celebration concluded with Bappa’s visarjan with a promise to return next year.

This event would not have been successful without the meticulous planning and execution by MV Board, as well as the support of numerous volunteers who handled various tasks such as registration, prasad, prasad-distribution, decorations, stage set-up, serving lunches, photography/videography, and artists’ transportation. We would like to specially mention Ajinkya Pawar and Sachin Kulkarni for helping throughout the event and staying until almost midnight to get the last item dropped back in the storage.

Marathi Vishwa Committee is grateful to all attendees, volunteers, and vendors for making the first event of the year a huge success.

Enjoy the glimpse of Babuji Ani Mi Shridharji Phadke I Babuji ani Me I MV Ganeshotsav 2024
https://youtu.be/xQuk9A_JrYc

Enjoy more photos of the event  https://www.facebook.com/share/p/ZHjtdek4UTaL7mjG/

Ganapati Bappa Morya! We seek your blessings for the upcoming year.

Marathi Vishwa Committee